Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Costa Rica

Michael and I had so much fun in Costa Rica. We just returned last weekend. There is a lot of pictures so just go through them quickly. Above is one of many different flowers around most of which I've never seen before.

Michael and I did a zip line down from the top of a mountain. It was the coolest thing I've every done. We are zipping down ten different lines from tree to tree until we finally reach the bottom. Here is Michael getting off a line.Here he is just coming in to a platform.

This is the view. You can see the ocean in the distance. This is my uncle Mark. We are waiting our turn for the next line.

You can't see the end of the line but this is the longest line of the ten. You can't even see the platform we just came from. But if you look close you can see a guy coming in and follow the cable into the trees.

Michael is getting ready for a run.

Here we are in our gear.

This is a restaurant that we ate at. It had a cargo plane in the middle of it. This is only the front of the place. The patio is where we ate at the top of a mountain overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The food was good too.

This is one of the beaches we swam at. Monkeys tried to get into my bag. I had to shoo them away.

This is the beach right down from our hotel in the town of Jaco. The sand was black and full of beautiful colored rocks and shells.

Michael and Gary(one of Michael's employees) are having fun in Jaco shopping.

This is Gary and Suzie. We spent most of our week with them. We just finished lunch.

And this is the view from my seat!

We took a boat ride right into the mangrove forest. This is off the main river that dumps into the ocean.

Here is a crocodile. It is estimated to weight about 800 pounds and is around 12 feet long.

Our boat driver went on the banks of the river and pulled out some chicken and lead the crocodile out of the water. Right when he opened his mouth, he dropped the chicken in.

I must say, this man has some serious issues to do this everyday. He did admit that he has been bite before.

Here he is before the croc came out for lunch.

This is a picture i dedicate to my brother Ryan whom I bought this camera from and gave me lessons on how to use it. The camera is more sophisticated than I and I was proud of this sunset picture.

Our company party was at a beautiful, exclusive restaurant overlooking the ocean right at sunset.

It was a magical night.

We took a horseback ride up to a lookout and then hiked down to a beautiful waterfall. It was hard work but worth it.

This is me on the horse. He was very nice to me. But I was still sore the next day.

Iguanas were everywhere. Even all around the hotel grounds. They ate any food that fell on the ground. The waiters had to shoo them away.

There was a marina in walking distance from the hotel. It was the largest in the area. This isn't a good picture of all the boats but a pretty one of the mountain range behind the hotel.

This is a view from the stairs coming down from the main floor to the pool area. The hotel was called "Los Suenos" golf and marina resort by Marriott. It was unbelievable. The food was picture perfect art every time a plate was brought in front of you. You know how much I love to cook so I took extra note of the care, work and creativity that went into each dish. I was never disappointed.

This is a view from the balcony of our room.

We had a wonderful vacation. It was like a dream. We have some special friends that were willing to watch my children so we could enjoy this trip. I just want to again say thank-you to them.

So if you are contemplating a vacation......DO IT! It is worth every dime.

hi ya! I found your blog from facebook. I LOVE it. it is fun catching up with your family. I cant get over how big your kids are! you and Michael look great too. Looks like a fabulous trip to costa rica, I think i need to vacation there now!!!

we have a blog too send me an email and I will invite you. i just moved it to a private blog anewton16@msn.com